A laptop is a tool you touch all day, just not usually on the screen.
Your hands live on the keyboard and trackpad. The display sits upright, a foot or two away, and that setup has barely changed in decades.
Apple liked it that way. For years, the company argued that reaching up to poke a laptop screen was a bad idea, even as rivals added touchscreens to Windows machines.
That stance made the Mac different from almost every other premium laptop. It also kept Apple’s line between the Mac and the iPad clear.
So when Apple finally put touch on a Mac, the obvious question was whether it works. One of the most-watched tech reviewers on YouTube just gave his answer.
Apple (AAPL) announced the MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display on Oct. 28, calling it the first Mac with Touch, according to its press release. Pre-orders are open, and the laptops will reach customers and stores on Friday, Nov. 6.
Marques Brownlee, the YouTube reviewer known as MKBHD, tried it in a first-impressions video titled “Macbook PROLED XDR Impressions: They Said They Wouldn’t!” His verdict on the headline feature was cool.
“It’s still kind of sloppy and messy to use it,” Brownlee said, Dexerto reported.
What MKBHD didn’t like about the touchscreen Mac
Brownlee laid out his objections plainly. “I never want fingerprints on my display,” he said, adding that he also never wants “the display wobbling around as I’m touching it,” according to Dexerto.
He also didn’t want to “hold my arm out and have my arm get tired.”
That’s the same complaint Steve Jobs made about vertical touchscreens in 2010. “It doesn’t work, it’s ergonomically terrible,” Jobs said at the time, Gulf News noted.
Here are the main problems Brownlee flagged, according to Dexerto and Gulf News:
- The screen still wobbles. Apple stiffened the hinge slightly, but the display still moves when pressed.
- No Apple Pencil. The MacBook Pro doesn’t support it.
- Mac apps aren’t built for fingers. Most desktop software still assumes a keyboard and trackpad, and many demos he saw involved mis-touches and fumbles.
- Apple adapted the Mac rather than rethinking it. He said Apple is “adapting for you,” for example by enlarging small buttons so they’re easier to tap.
Tom’s Guide Editor-in-Chief Mark Spoonauer raised the same Pencil gap in his own hands-on. “We’ll have to see how well touch works with third-party apps,” he wrote.
Why MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display costs you $400 more
This is the number I’d focus on. The 14-inch touch model with the M5 Pro chip starts at $2,899, while the existing 14-inch MacBook Pro with the same chip and a mini-LED screen costs $2,499, PPC Land reported.
Apple is keeping the mini-LED models on sale alongside the new ones, MacRumors reported. So the $400 buys the OLED panel, the touch layer, the lighter body and the Dynamic Island, not more computing power.
Related: Apple is about to break a rule Steve Jobs defended
Here’s how the lineup stacks up in the U.S., according to Apple and PPC Land:
- 14-inch MacBook Pro, M6: $1,999
- 14-inch MacBook Pro, M5 Pro (mini-LED): $2,499
- 14-inch MacBook Pro, M5 Pro (PROLED XDR, touch): $2,899
- 16-inch MacBook Pro, M5 Pro (PROLED XDR, touch): $3,399
- 14-inch MacBook Pro, M5 Max (PROLED XDR, touch): $4,499
- 16-inch MacBook Pro, M5 Max (PROLED XDR, touch): $4,799
By my math, the touch model costs 16% more than the same-chip mini-LED version. It’s $900 more than the M6 MacBook Pro, Apple’s cheapest new Pro.
If you split the $2,899 base price over 12 months, that’s about $241.58 a month before tax.
Apple’s Upgrade lease, run through Klarna, starts at $78.99 a month over 24 months at that price, according to Apple. A lease isn’t ownership, though, so read the terms before you sign.
What MKBHD liked about the new MacBook Pro
It wasn’t all bad. Brownlee found the touchscreen responsive and smooth, with multi-touch gestures, pinch-to-zoom, and touch window management, Dexerto reported.
He also saw a clear use for iPhone app developers, who can tap a simulated iPhone on screen. And he said he’s “fine” with touch as an optional feature, even if he’s “personally not interested.”
More Apple Devices:
- MKBHD drops a blunt verdict on Apple’s $1,999 iPhone Duo
- Apple’s $1,999 iPhone Duo appears to have an app problem
- Apple cuts iPhone 18 Pro orders as AI raises the bill
The display and the weight impressed him most. “I’d upgrade for the weight savings before I would for the touchscreen,” he said, according to Dexerto.
Apple’s numbers back that up. The 14-inch model weighs 3 pounds, half a pound lighter than before, and the 16-inch weighs 4 pounds, according to Apple. The OLED panel hits 2,000 nits of peak brightness with a 10,000,000:1 contrast ratio.
“PROLED XDR is the world’s best laptop display,” said Johny Srouji, Apple’s chief hardware officer, in the release.
Brownlee also noted that the nano-texture finish feels softer to the touch and that both finishes hide fingerprints well, Gulf News reported.
Who should buy the touchscreen MacBook Pro
Based on Brownlee’s take, here’s how I’d sort it:
- Photo and video pros: The screen is the real upgrade, and touch is a bonus.
- iPhone app developers: Touch makes testing apps on a simulated iPhone more natural.
- Frequent travelers: The half-pound weight cut matters if you carry it every day.
- Everyone else: The $2,499 mini-LED model has the same chip. The $1,999 M6 model may be all the laptop you need.
Microsoft Word, Excel, Zoom, and other apps are getting touch support “later this year,” Apple said. If touch is your reason to buy, waiting for those updates costs you nothing.
Should you pre-order before Nov. 6?
If you’re on the fence, I’d treat this like any big purchase. Decide what you’re paying for, and make sure you’ll use it.
Students and teachers can save $150 on the 14-inch model, which drops to $2,749 with education pricing, according to Apple. Trade-in credit can also take a chunk off the price.
Brownlee’s verdict is a useful filter.
If you want the best screen on a laptop and a lighter bag, the new MacBook Pro delivers.
If you’re paying $400 extra mainly to touch the screen, you may be paying for the part of the Mac that still needs work.
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